Politics & Government

Lawrence Township Tax Sale Set for Dec. 12

Lawrence Township has published a list of nearly 300 properties whose owners who, as of Nov. 10, still owed 2010 taxes and other fees to the township.

Lawrence Township has announced it will hold a tax sale on Monday, Dec. 12, beginning at 10 a.m. in the council chambers in the municipal building at 2207 Lawrence Rd. (Route 206).

In preparation for the sale, the township has published on its website a list of nearly 300 properties – both residential and commercial – located within Lawrence Township whose owners, as of Nov. 10, still owed money to the township in the form of municipal taxes, sewer fees and other charges from calendar year 2010.

Township Manager Richard Krawczun said property owners have until the close of business on Friday, Dec. 9, to settle their 2010 debts to avoid their properties being included in the Dec. 12 tax sale.

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He said many property owners have already paid what they owed from 2010, including the two on the township list shown as having owed the most – Lawrenceville Nursing Home and Simone Investment Group LLC, which owed 180,957.01 and 45,102.31 respectively.      

Real property is not sold at a tax sale. Instead, the township tax collector offers to sell to the public "tax sale certificates" for delinquent properties.   

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“If someone purchases a tax sale certificate and files that tax sale certificate with the county clerk’s office it becomes a tax lien on the property,” Krawczun said.

“So purchasers will buy the tax sale certificate and the township will then be made whole for all the delinquencies. We recognize that as revenue,” Krawczun explained. “After the purchaser files that certificate and it becomes a lien, then the property owner, in order to clear up that tax sale certificate, would have to pay that outside lien holder.”

The incentive for someone to buy a tax certificate is two-fold: interest is earned once the certificate is filed and becomes a tax lien and, if the property owner does not settle the account with the lien holder, the lien holder can then initiate foreclosure proceedings after two years.   

“Purchasers of tax sale certificates are predominately individuals who are doing this for the interest earnings,” Krawczun said. “The interest rates at a tax sale are bid. They start at 18 percent and then they are bid down. You don’t bid the rates up, you bid them down.”

If no member of the public bids on a particular certificate that certificate reverts to the township and becomes known as a municipal lien, Krawczun said. He said the interest rate for municipal liens is 18 percent and the township has the right to begin the foreclosure process after waiting just six months.

“In years past we have seen very few, if any certificates, revert to the municipality, unless we hold the prior, meaning we hold the certificate from earlier years. That kind of puts us first in line,” he said.


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